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Tue Mar 12, 2013 4:02 pm

These are all 8mm adjusters. CB Performance on the left, Bugpack in the middle, and no name "p/n 109470" on the right.

You will notice quite a difference in the finish of the ball end that is inserted into the foot. The CB are quite rought, the other two are smoother with the Bugpack being the hight polished ball end. The CB ones feel rough when I swivel the feet. The Bugpack one is the smoothest, with the no name one close second. I initially bought the CB ones because they seem popular here. I thought they were a little rough but thought well...that must be how they are. I ordered a Bugpack one as a spare, just in case one of the CB ones broke far away from home. I noticed right away that the finish was a lot better than the CB units. I then decided to order a full set of Bugpack ones, but was sent the no name one because the vendor was out of stock of the Bugpack adjusters. :(

The first photo shows the difference in range of motion of the feet. The no name appears to have a slight better range, but the foot also seems to be looser than the Bugpack unit. The Bugpack and "no name" measured 0.197" at their narrowest at the neck, while the CB were 0.18".

What does all this mean? I don't know. :? Which ones am I going to run? I don't know...

For those of you who have used the CB units, were yours as rough as mine? Maybe I got a bad batch??? Maybe they will smooth out as they break in, but they just do not seem right, but maybe they are made of better material?

Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:53 am

Did you soak them in oil? What engine?

Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:05 am

I bought some of them years ago for my typeIV motor. after several valve adjustments, one day during an adjustment the feeler gage felt like it was hanging up on something. I pulled the rocker shaft and examined the adjuster screw "foot". Sto my amazement, the ball in the ball socket had punched its way thru the foot, the foot material was way to soft for this application.

these where inexpensive ones, likely made in some make shift forge.

I then bought real Porsche ones (pricey) and have had no problems since.

so make sure you check the screw foot if you ever feel the feeler gage hang up on something when doing a valve adjustment

Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:08 pm

These are for a motor I'm building so they are new. Whatever I end up using will get soaked in oil

Yes those Porsche ones are expensive. The Bugpack and no name ones I have look pretty much exactly like the Porsche ones.

Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:17 pm

The Cb's in my opinion are very hard (no ductility). Should be long wearing if they don't break. The question is how much articulation do you need for your cam.

Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:09 pm

use genuine Porsche adjusters ONLY.
everything else is crap.

i speak from experience.

Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:18 pm

Porsche OEM valve adjuster with the feet..about $24 each from Pelican. 8x24= $192 No headaches. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_inf...4-89%29%20

Will the bearing surface inside the ball socket get oiled with WBX hydo-lifters? Zero lash..

Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:32 pm

AtlasShrugged wrote: Will the bearing surface inside the ball socket get oiled with WBX hydo-lifters? Zero lash..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...p;start=40

I think if they are good units that they will last.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:12 am

drumbum68 wrote: The Cb's in my opinion are very hard (no ductility).

you are right. I took my stainless steel pick to the side of each foot to see if I could scratch them. The CB one is definatelly harder to scratch than the other two.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:41 am

Having recently purchased and installed the CB's, I guess my motor will be a test case. Interesting to see them compared to the other two brands.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:23 pm

shadetreetim wrote: Having recently purchased and installed the CB's, I guess my motor will be a test case. Interesting to see them compared to the other two brands.

So did your elephant foot swivel smoothly or a little nothchy? You can see the roughness in mine. If yours are smooth then you should be good.

Here is an up close picture on mine. Digital cameras are just like a microscope :D

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Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:22 pm

i took a photo of a genuine 911 adjuster. it's a little different. in the very first photo - top of topic - the middle and right one look the same to me.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:54 pm

germansupplyscott wrote: i took a photo of a genuine 911 adjuster. it's a little different. in the first photo the middle and left one look the same to me.

Nice Scott! That is the kind of picture what I like to see :D Those are nicely machined and they are definitely different than mine. Are they Porsche or Mahle/Weiseman (which likely make them for Porsche)? I see you have the warning on your site about not using them with hydraulic lifters. I wonder if they would hold up in a WBX like the good set of well machined CB ones would. Anyone here have any experience with them in a WBX?

BTW there are very subtle differences in the two right ones in my first picture, but yes they look pretty much the same. I used a microscope and the middle one has a higher polish ans is machined a little nicer...but they may be made in the same place and from a different batch and labeled differently.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:33 pm

Pascal wrote: shadetreetim wrote: Having recently purchased and installed the CB's, I guess my motor will be a test case. Interesting to see them compared to the other two brands.

So did your elephant foot swivel smoothly or a little nothchy? You can see the roughness in mine. If yours are smooth then you should be good.
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I don't remember them being as rough as yours. They did swivel smooth. Looking through my pictures of them I didn't manage to capture any images that would show. If I take them off for any reason I'll have to examine them closer.

Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:02 pm

Bet the CB-Performance are the best ones in your picture. I like the way the threads go up close to the ball. I have tried some no name's they did not last long balls fall out! Now I have some scat that are pushing 25000 miles and are still fine.

Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:31 am

Pascal wrote: Are they Porsche or Mahle/Weiseman (which likely make them for Porsche)?

i think it's spelled weizmann, but yes, they are OE.

some people don't approve of using this type of adjuster on a hydraulic valve train, that would be my only worry using them on a waterboxer. the issue is because the valve train is always loaded, there would be lubrication issues inside the cup of the foot. on a hydraulic valve train the cup will never unload completely and may not get proper lubrication because of this. i don't have testing or data to back this up.

Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:36 am

I'm now thinking that the rough machining of the CB Performance adjusters might allow for oil to lubricate them more readily than a smoothly finished adjuster. As I mentioned earlier they are the hardest of the 3 brands that I have and maybe the harness compensated for the roughness and allows them to last in hydrolic lifter applications. I've read that several people and vendors say the elephant feet will not last with hydolic lifters, but the CB ones seem to work for WBXer.

The other difference is maybee the WBX has better oil flow to the rockers compared to the aircooled type 1 engine which might enable the elephant foot adjuster to get properly lubricated and be compatible with the WBXer hydro lifters.

I've been thinking of running a few of each on my engine and monitoring them, but I don't want to have one break on one of our road trips. My westy does not get much daily driving, it's mainly our weekend gettaway and vacation machine...I would not be very popular if one broke on a road trip and I had to explain to my spouse that I was experimenting with valve adjusters to see which ones would wear out first :lol:

Sat Aug 23, 2014 5:50 pm

Just bought a set. But new to theses. I had ball adjusters. I keep seeing things about having to clearance rocker arms for these. Anyone know of a thread for that? Thanks guys...

Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:25 pm

Does anyone of you know if there are 10mm Elephant foot adjusters available?
Thanks,
Heiko

Tue Dec 30, 2014 8:17 am

Heiko,

I've never seen 10mm elephant foot adjusters. Just the 8mm and 9mm ones. The only 9mm ones I have seen are the CB ones.